How would you master a quiet/loud song?

Biggest thing for that is that the vocal level stays fairly consistent level wise. You don't want the super open quiet stuff to have a super loud vocal and then it's suddenly not as up front due to the automation of coming down to louder chorus. There are exceptions to this out there. As with all things.


But yeah, just basic volume/gain adjustments for that stuff is usually what I do. The bigger challenge is making the louder parts feel as open as the quiet parts and not squashing them a lot.

automation is your friend here. Be it clip gain/volume/plugin

thanks for suggestions. good to read that my strategies are good methods.
in the meantime i checked out - for the first time - access analog. i used the free daking comp 2, ironage works eq, ssl fusion and neve mbt (had free trial codes). the neve mbt def stays on the masterbus! brings dimension and a classy sound to the track! fab piece of gear.
i did also a very gently squeezing of the whole track with my most transparent comp, kotelnikof. just 1.2:1 ratio over the whole track to diminish the whole dynamic. rest will be automation and clip gain. after all its a pop track and the intro (piano and quiet vocals) should not be too quiet.

What you are describing sounds more like something that should be solved in mixing rather than mastering. When I master, the final limiter(s) might take off 4dB total in the loudest section of the song on big transients but nothing in the quieter sections. If you find you have a larger swing than that, I might try evening it out in mixing.

I agree here and was thinking the same when I read thru the thread. I find myself sometimes in a similar situation with the topic starter. I am not a master engineer, I do not own mastering equipment (except my mixbus that could be considered a part of mastering chain) so I rather leave it to someone who knows their shit around mastering. Despite all this there are times when I find myself mastering a track. I do not limit my mixes, but I do compress and eq the 2bus. I sometimes go into master mode with a mix to unveil problems. Then I return to the mix and work out the problems. If I end up mastering a mix of mine, I will work the mix until I can use ozone for example to limit the mix and reach proper level and possibly tweak some eq, but that’s it. This kind of mastering would not be called a beautifully executed characteristic master. But it will sound like the mix at a proper level. When you start limiting and pushing the peaks of the song into the final levels, the mix shouldn’t break down. The initial dynamics and production should still be there. This of course might require a well working 2bus and a pretty finalized production.